Morbid

“Arnold, that was fucking AWESOME!” Cissily yelled, leaned in, and planted a kiss on his cheek. “I can never get that bitch to shut up, no matter what I say!”

“I can't kiss anyone except Kelly.” Arnold reminded her and she laughed.

“It's all right, you ignorant fuck. I was the one doing the kissing and I only kissed your cheek.” Cissily said and gave him another kiss on the cheek, then she wiped at her lipstick prints with her thumb and smudged them. “Dammit! Just a sec.” She grabbed a napkin and wiped at his face properly. “Hell, I'll tell your girlfriend I did it and why! Ha ha!”

“Cissily, what the hell are are doing?” Amy asked as she came over with a food tray. “Stop pawing at Arnold.”

Cissily laughed. “I was just removing the evidence.” She said. “I kissed his cheek for driving off Professor Cunt.”

Amy took in a sharp breath and then she laughed. “Okay, I think that does deserve a kiss on the cheek.”

“Fucking right it does.” Cissily said. “She prances around here like she owns the place and no one ever calls her on her bullshit. Until now.” She pat Arnold's hand. “Thank you.”

Arnold shrugged a little and started eating again. Amy sat down across from him and started eating herself. Conversation picked up around them, now that the spectacle was over, and everyone went back to eating. After a few minutes, Amy spoke.

“I talked to Professor Crenslav and he actually is going to need your help this afternoon. I had to remind him about all of the small specimens he has to prepare for tomorrow.” Amy said. “I have classes, so if you could go back to the lab after lunch, that would be great.”

“Okay.” Arnold said and kept eating.

That went easier than I thought it would. Amy thought. I assumed I would have to argue a little about him losing the afternoon off and all he did was agree. She smiled. “Thank you.”

Arnold jerked a little as if to lean across the table, then stopped. “I can't kiss anyone but Kelly.”

Everyone else at the table gave him an odd look and Cissily laughed.

“Aww! You poor slut! You can't get another kiss from the kissing bandit! Ha ha!” Cissily said.

“Fuck off, you whore.” Amy retorted. They stared at each other for a second, then they both laughed.

Lunch ended and Amy, Cissily, and the other girls went to their normal classes while Arnold went back to the lab.

“Ah, I see the industrious Amy convinced you to come back, even though I gave you the afternoon off.” Professor Hamil Crenslav said. “Good, good. I really do need your help.”

Arnold watched as Hamil took out the lesson plan for the next day. It was regular classes all morning and there would be three classes of thirty six students, each class being an hour with ten minutes between them, which used up the entire morning.

“I've got to have a hundred and eight student ready specimens for dissection, and six display models already fully prepped.” Hamil said.

“How much do we do on the student versions?” Arnold asked.

“We're only doing the initial cuts and opening them up to give the students easier access.” Hamil said. “I remember last term where one of them tried to cut open the underbelly of a specimen with one of the spreaders.”

Arnold gave him raised eyebrows and Hamil laughed.

“Yes, exactly.” Hamil said. “It's the price we must pay for students only taking the biology class as a prerequisite and not as a career.” He said. “We need to have the specimens started and tacked back in place for easy access.”

“Yes, sir.” Arnold said and followed the professor out of the lab and down the stairs to the basement and into the Ice Box. They retrieved the right number of specimens and brought them back up to the lab and got to work.

Hamil didn't comment about it; but, he was impressed that Amy was correct and had given him the proof he wanted. Arnold worked without pause or complaint and they did all one hundred and eight student specimens and then did six full dissections for the lab workers to use as display models.

I must thank her for showing me Arnold's outstanding work ethic. Hamil thought as Arnold helped him store everything for the morning.

*

It had taken quite some time for Heather to convince the two police officers that she had nothing to do with any crime that had happened the night before. With the cell phone texts and the GPS proof that an app on her phone showed them where her phone was, they had to accept that she wasn't physically involved. Since she was with Eric at the time as well, their lead that he had been involved was also dead in the water.

“Miss Bradshaw, thank you for clearing this up for us.” Officer Hallman said and reached for the door handle when his cell phone rang. “Hello? Yes. All right. Uh huh. Of course. Thank you as well. Goodbye.” He put his phone away and looked at Heather. “I just have one more question.”

Heather didn't quite stop her sigh from escaping.

“Do you know of any other crimes that Mr. Willowby and his friends have been up to?”

Heather opened her mouth to respond with 'no' and saw the glare that her mother gave her. “Not really.”

Both officers perked up at that statement.

“The night of the prom, Brad and his friends might have spray painted the bridge.” Heather said.

“Oh, god.” Claire said and covered her face with a hand. “Heather, you... why...”

“I wasn't there!” Heather exclaimed. “I only know about it because Eric told me where Brad went after we had... after Brad left me alone in his car.”

Claire successfully ignored Heather's public sex implication. “Heather, the bridge is federal property.”

“Check my GPS and you'll see I was only in the school parking lot and then Eric drove me home.” Heather said. “Neither of us went near the bridge that night.”

“It doesn't matter. You didn't report knowledge of a crime, either before or after.” Claire said, sadly.

“It can also be classed as a felony.” Officer Hallman said and both Claire and Heather caught their breath. “Defacing government property is a serious crime. If the prosecutor is in a good mood when this hits his desk, they might only get an infraction added to their charges.”

“Oh, god.” Claire said and had to sit down. “God!”

“I wasn't involved!” Heather said and sat next to her mother. “I don't even know if they actually did it or what they did!”

“I think we need to take a little trip down to the station.” Officer Hallman said.

“We'll need to pick up the boyfriend as well.” His partner added. “At the very least, he was still a part of their group at the time and knew what they were doing.”

“Do we need a lawyer?” Claire asked and hoped beyond hope that they didn't.

“Your daughter has been cooperating, so we are only confirming her placing Mr. Willowby at the scenes of both crimes.” Officer Hallman said, then he thought about it. “Unless there's anything else you want to tell us about him and what he's been doing lately?”

Heather didn't hesitate this time and pointed to her cell phone. He handed it to her and she brought up the posted video that had been shared all over social media and the gaming websites. She handed it back and he played it.

“Jesus, it has over a hundred thousand views already.” His partner said and the two of them watched it. “All right, I think I just saw enough motivation for what happened at the Strickland residence.”

“What... what did you say? What happened at Annie's house?” Claire asked, real concern in her voice.

“We shouldn't discuss it until we head down to the station.” Officer Hallman said.

“I should call a lawyer.” Claire said and stood.

“That is your right... if you're sure your daughter is guilty and needs one... even though she hasn't been charged with anything yet.” Officer Hallman's partner said.

Claire winced at the 'yet'. “Please, don't recommend that she be charged.” She said. “She's cooperating and she let you know who defaced the bridge.”

Officer Hallman gave his partner a look and they both shrugged slightly. “All right. I give my word that we will point out she's helping with the investigation and shouldn't be charged.”

“Thank you.” Claire said, relieved. “Heather, let's go.”

The two officers led the two women out of the house and after Claire promised to stay right behind them, let Heather ride in her mother's car and not the squad car. As Officer Hallman drove to the station, his partner called in a request to pick up Eric.

They arrived at the station and Heather and Claire were led into the squad room. Claire had been there years ago and she wasn't surprised that it hadn't changed at all. It had been a traumatic time for her and she remembered what it looked like.

“Right this way.” Officer Hallman said and led her and her daughter into a small office and had them sit down to wait. “I'll be right back.”

Claire nodded and he left them alone. “This is some great mess you've gotten into.”

“Mom, I told you I wasn't involved.” Heather said.

“Just knowing about it has involved you.” Claire said. “I just hope that officer keeps his word.”

“Wh-what?” Heather looked at her mother. “What do you mean?”

“He could change his mind, especially if Eric doesn't cooperate or confirms your story.”

Heather took in a deep breath and let it out. “He's a good guy. He'll tell them everything.”

“He better.” Claire said and took out her cell phone.

“Who are you calling?” Heather asked.

“Annie.” Claire said and dialed. There was no answer and she tried again. “I hope she's okay.”

“They wouldn't do anything to Arnold's mother.” Heather said, sure of that.

“You don't know much about angry men in a mob, do you?” Claire asked.

“What do you mean?” Heather asked.

“They are stupid and make rash decisions. If she was home when they went over to get Arnold...”

“No, they wouldn't. Just seeing Arnold's mom would stop them from doing anything.” Heather said. “She's... I can't describe it.”

Claire had to agree. There was something about her that made you think that you didn't want to mess with her. She just hoped Brad was smart enough to see that and left her alone.

“Kelly!” Heather said loudly. “We can't call Arnold or his mother; but, we can call Kelly! She should know what happened!”

Claire nodded and brought up Kelly's contact info and hit her name.

*

“Are you two enjoying yourselves?” Detective Tanner asked Officer Hallman and his partner as they listened to the mother and daughter talking.

“We're getting confirmation that she really didn't have anything to do with it, and we just learned they know someone else that might be involved.” Officer Hallman said. “I doubt she'll have any foreknowledge of the crimes committed if she was with Ms. Strickland's son the whole time.”

“Get an eyeful of this.” His partner said and played the video for her.

Detective Tanner laughed. “There's clear revenge right there. That's just embarrassing.”

“Plus, now we don't have to tell them what happened.” Officer Hallman said. “They are finding out the seriousness on their own and we can use that to pressure the others.”

“Oh? Do you think they know more than their saying?” Detective Tanner asked.

“No. After some subversive prompting from her mother, she told us what she knew.” Officer Hallman said. “She's protesting pretty loudly that she only knew some things and wasn't physically involved.”

“Hey, you know this is working pretty well.” His partner said.

“Are you thinking we could put them all in the same room?” Officer Hallman asked.

“At least this Eric kid and his old group first, then we can see if anything comes up.” His partner said. “If nothing happens, we can toss in the ex-girlfriend and see who blows up first.”

Officer Hallman smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. “Let's get it set up for the conference room.”

“Do you need an assist?” Detective Tanner asked.

“You're not trying to horn in on our case, are you?” Officer Hallman chuckled.

“I've met this kid.” Detective Tanner said and pointed to the video. “I'd like to know how it got to this point.”

“Now that's a good line of questions for the ex-girlfriend.” Officer Hallman said. “Go ahead and talk to the Bradshaws while we get the conference room ready.”

Detective Tanner nodded and went into the small dummy office to get the history of the conflict.

*

“Oh, my god!” Claire exclaimed as Kelly told her what happened. “How's Annie? Is she okay?” She paused. “She wasn't there when it happened? Thank god.” She said. “I'm so sorry.” She waited a moment. “Tell her that Heather is helping to stick it to Brad. Yes, really. We're at the police station right now.”

Heather sat anxiously beside her mother and waited. She's making this out to put me in a good light!

“We even told them that Brad and his friends spray painted the bridge.” Claire said and smiled. “Oh, yes. This isn't just personal vandalism anymore and it's not going to go away.” She paused and nodded. “Yes, send me what you have.” She said and her phone beeped at her. “Thank you, Kelly. Thank you very much. All right. Bye.”

“Let me see!” Heather said and leaned over the cell phone and then she gasped. “Oh, my god!”

“That's horrible.” Claire said, her voice full of sadness as they watched the video. “They just paid it off and now it looks like that.”

“Mom, I had no idea... that's just...” Heather's eyes teared up. “I'm so glad they weren't home!”

“Me, too.” Claire said. “Me, too.”

The door to the office opened and a woman wearing a black A-line skirt and a green blouse strode in.

“Hi, there. I'm Detective Tanner.”

“Detective?” Claire asked, a little surprised.

Detective Tanner let out a short laugh. “You can relax. I'm just assisting by getting some background information from you while the officers are busy.” She said and sat down. “First off, how do you know Arnold Strickland?”

“We met at school.” Heather said. “He didn't notice me at all at first, at least I thought he didn't, then he said that he did notice me because his mother told him not to ignore important things...”

Both Detective Tanner and Claire were impressed at the great pickup line, then they listened to everything that Heather had to say about their relationship and everything that happened between them, Brad, and his friends.

*

Brad and his friends were led from the holding cell and into a large conference room and told to wait there. To their surprise, they were left alone. A couple of them started to talk and Kevin hushed them. They all sat down in random chairs and waited for a few minutes, then the door to the room opened and Eric came in.

“You!” Brad shot to his feet. “What are you doing here?”

“Guilt by association.” Eric spat, sighed, then walked over to the table and sat down. “I'm not even going to ask what you idiots did last night, because I honestly don't want to know.”

“You missed a great time, man!” One of the guys said.

“Shut it!” Kevin said.

“It was such a great time that we're all in jail because of it and I wasn't even there.” Eric said. “That sure is great. Thanks a lot.”

“Hey, man. You saw that video. We couldn't let that go!” One of the other guys said.

“Shut UP!” Keven yelled.

“Geez, man. Relax.” The guy said. “What's vandalism anyway? A petty crime?” He laughed. “My dad will have me out by tonight.”

“What about the rest of us?” One of them asked. “Do we have to take the fall for you guys?”

“What else do I have to say!” Kevin said loudly. “Shut your damn faces! If we all stay quiet, they got nothing! Nothing!”

“Only witnesses, video, catching you red-handed while committing the crime, and a previous history of committing crimes.” Eric said with a laugh. “Yeah, they got nothing on you at all.”

The other guys, including Brad, had slightly worried faces.

“It was just toilet paper and eggs.” Kevin said. “A kid's prank.”

“You forgot breaking the windows and throwing shit inside.” One of the guys said with a grin. “God, that was fun.”

“What are you, twelve?” Eric asked, unknowingly echoing Kelly's sentiment, then he let his anger out and stood to glare at them all. “It's a FUCKING CRIME to BREAK AND ENTER someone's HOUSE you STUPID FUCKS!”

“Calm down! We didn't enter the place!” Kevin said.

“God, I beg you! Kill me now!” Eric said and sat down again and put his head in his hands.

“Look, we'll get out of this. I promise.” Brad said. “This isn't even as bad as that time we...”

*

“I swear this is comedy gold. We need to get an award for this.” Officer Hallman said and his partner laughed as they listened to the suspects berate each other over all the stupid stuff they did.